And The Children Shall Lead, Part 2

(I am a 33-year-old woman managing a local fast food restaurant. I love what I do, and take pride in my job and my restaurant. I also happen to be only five feet tall.)

Customer: “Hi. I want to order catering for a party I am having tomorrow.”

Me: “Well, we typically need more notice to do a catering order. How many people are you expecting?”

Customer: “Something like 120.”

Me: “We usually can’t do something that large on such short notice, but let me see—”

Customer: “You know what? Let me talk to the manager so I don’t have to be here all day!”

Me: “Ma’am, I am the manager. I’m not saying we can’t do it for sure. I just want to see if we have the staff scheduled, to see if I can pull this off for you.”

Customer: “You are the manager? What are you, like 16? How young can you be to be a manager at [Restaurant]? They really need to start caring about their restaurants and hire some adults to run this place! I mean, it’s just kids around here! How are you supposed to run a business without any adults around?”

Me: “Ma’am, I’m in my 30s, married, and have children old enough to almost work here themselves.”

Customer: “OH! You are SO LYING! How old are you REALLY?”

(I pull out my driver’s license, covering my info with my thumb, all but my birthdate.)

Customer: “Um.. uh… Sorry. You.. uh.. you… you don’t LOOK your age.”

Me: “I’ll take your shock as a compliment. Now, let me look to see if we have the staff to make your party happen.”

(I check. We did. We pulled off her party the next day.)